New Delhi: Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha’s first day of the monsoon session was bombarded with youth staging protests against the issuance of fake caste certificates. Around 20 young boys holding placards stripped and ran towards the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha.
This unusual sight was witnessed by various ministers on their way to the Vidhan Sabha. The video soon went viral on social media, too.
The youths belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) groups were ‘dejected,’ with instances of individuals not belonging to the reserved categories exploiting quotas meant for SC and ST in both government jobs and political positions.
The police stopped the protesters from proceeding further towards the assembly. Later, they were detained.
Vinay Kaushal, the spokesperson for the SC/ST category fake certificate case, Sangharsh Samite, said that the demonstration in front of the Vidhan Sabha required immediate attention. He also claimed that over 100 students across the state were participating in the protest, while only a dozen of them showed up at the protest site.
According to a high-level caste verification committee report, 267 cases of fraudulent caste certificates were identified out of 758 cases examined in the period of 2000-2020. The employees and officers were reportedly removed with immediate effect from crucial positions.
Commenting on the incident, the BJP wing of Chhattisgarh shared the video on their official Twitter handle, blaming Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel for his negligence on the matter.
भूपेश सरकार की नजरअंदाजी से परेशान एसटी-एससी वर्ग के युवा राजधानी रायपुर में नग्न प्रदर्शन करने को हुए मजबूर।
267 फर्जी जाति प्रमाण पत्र बनवा कर सरकारी नौकरी करने वालों के खिलाफ कार्रवाई क्यों नहीं कर रही भूपेश सरकार? pic.twitter.com/TSt1wypzSC
— BJP Chhattisgarh (@BJP4CGState) July 18, 2023
The protesting students have demanded the suspension of people with fake caste certificates from their workplaces and requested that the government lodge an FIR against them.
Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh also took a dig at the state government, questioning the Congress’s silence on this matter.
Shiv Dahariya, Minister of Labour, Chhattisgarh, in his media interaction said that the fake caste certificates scam was started under the last government and that the state is working in full force to eradicate any such cases.
छत्तीसगढ़ में अनुसूचित वर्गों के साथ शोषण का दर दिन प्रति दिन बढ़ता ही जा रहा हैं!
आज से शुरु हुए विधानसभा के मानसून सत्र के बीच राजधानी की सड़कों पर एसटी एससी वर्ग के युवाओं ने नग्न प्रदर्शन किया गया है।
मंत्रियों का काफिला सड़कों से गुजर रहा था। जानकारी के मुताबिक फर्जी… pic.twitter.com/Rc9k6jtj9H
— BJP SC MORCHA भाजपा राष्ट्रीय अनुसूचित जाति मोर्चा (@BJPSCMorcha) July 18, 2023
Meanwhile, the BJP SC Morcha tweeted to express grave concerns about the faulty employment of people based on fake caste certificates.
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